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Central bank cuts merchant discount rates for debit card transactions
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Transactions are carried out at an ATM center in Jakarta. (kontan.co.id/Baihaki)
B
ank Indonesia reduced Tuesday merchant discount rates (MDR) to 1 percent from between 2 and 3 percent for debit card transactions made using ATMs and electronic data capture (EDC) machines.
“I assure you MDR would go down to 1 percent,” said BI Governor Agus Martowardojo in Jakarta on Monday on the sidelines of the launching of National Payment Gateway program.
He said that, currently, banks shouldered high costs while conducting transactions through ATMs and EDCs because of high MDR rates.
BI transformation center program head Onny Widjanarko said that banks would not shoulder additional costs as a result of the change.
Read also: Bank Indonesia launches national payment gateway
“We have calculated that there is no party that would suffer any losses [because of the decline in MDR],” he said as reported by kontan.co.id, adding that the banking industry would instead be more efficient because of the program.
With the new system, banks need not provide additional ATMs and EDCs and they would also benefit from the MDR decline as customers are expected to carry out more transactions.
Meanwhile, BI recorded Rp 17 trillion (US$1.26 billion) in debit card transactions per day nationwide. (bbn)
